A functional genomics analysis of Glycine max vesicle membrane fusion genes in relation to infection by Heterodera glycines

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN), a major pathogen of soybean worldwide, causes huge losses in soybean production. Various approaches including cloning of genes to combat this devastating disease help to better understand the cellular function and immune responses of plants. Membrane fusion genes are the important regulatory parts of vesicular transport system, which works through packaging of intracellular compounds and delivering them to apoplast or nematode feeding sites to induce an incompatible reaction. The incompatible nature of membrane fusion proteins such as SNAP25, Munc18, Syntaxin, Synaptobrevin, NSF, Synaptotagmin and alpha-SNAP are conserved in eukaryotes and regulate the intracellular function to combat abiotic and biotic stress in plants. Overexpression of these genes in G. max [Williams 82(PI518671)] which is a susceptible cultivar of soybean to nematodes resulted in a reduction of the SCN population providing further insights of molecular and genetic approaches to solve the SCN problems in agriculture.